From the 1833 Form of Government of the Presbyterian Church

It’s General Assembly season for lots of different Presbyterians. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America has been meeting this week, the General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, my denomination, is meeting next week, and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is meeting the following week. Each of these denominations have distinctives and identities unique to themselves. But this year’s general assemblies have at least one thing in common: each is about when to say “yes” and when to say “no.” The issues vary – not mine to comment on the issues before the PCA and the PC(USA).  As for the EPC, I’ll be at the meeting in Memphis ready to listen and praying to vote wisely.

You are free to do your own Google work, but my sense is that the PCA and the EPC are wrestling with the issue of when to say “no” and the PC(USA) is deciding if they must always say “yes.” Hint: the churches are not free from culture war battles.

One of my favorite New Testament verses is 2 Corinthians 1:20, which says in part, “all the promises of God find their Yes in Christ.”  I would rather say “yes” than “no.” At our general assembly we are going to be asked to vote yes or no on a policy designed to say “no.” I don’t know how I will vote, yes or no, and, as I said, I plan to listen and to pray for wisdom. Continue reading →

It’s been a big news week. Oh, yeah, that stuff about the former president and the other stuff about the current president’s son.  But I am talking about important stuff.

While the pundits and the politicians have been busy pushing our ideological buttons, God was doing some wonderful things off-headline.

The same day social and mainstream media went berserk with news of former President Trump’s conviction, I heard from a pastor friend far away that his call to a new congregation is now public.  It’s his story to tell, but I say “thanks be to God” to all involved.  And the day testimony began in the Hunter Biden gun trial, another pastor friend took a next step towards a position that will be good for his entire denomination. Again, his story to tell, but what good news! Continue reading →

Joni Mitchell, the 60s folk singer, looked at clouds from both sides – ice cream castles in the air and the many things she would have done but clouds got in her way – and concluded she really didn’t know clouds at all.

The World Meteorological Organization says, “A cloud is a hydrometeor consisting of minute particles of liquid water or ice, or of both, suspended in the atmosphere and usually not touching the ground.” I’m sure that is a fine definition, but it really doesn’t help me know clouds at all.

The photo was taken from our backyard. Earlier in the week Becky and I were enjoying the late afternoon on the back patio and the clouds in the Midwestern sky were more of the ice cream castle sort.  By midnight they were bringing rain and thunder and lightning on everyone.  Yes, both sides of clouds.  If I look at clouds by the standard of ice cream castles in the air or things that get in my way, I suppose I cannot really know clouds at all. Continue reading →

My early morning routine has me up for a run through the neighborhood at about the same time as school buses rumble by picking up students for a day in the classroom. Not too early for my run, but way too early for children to catch a bus. That’s a story for another day.

Earlier this week I ran by a cluster of kids waiting for their bus and overheard just a snippet of conversation between what I assumed was an older sister, maybe ten years old, and a younger brother, seven or eight years old.

Older sister: “Yes, you did!”
Younger brother: “No, I didn’t!!”

I was out of earshot by the time the next round of the debate came around. I have no idea whether little brother was guilty as charged. Maybe he did, and maybe he didn’t.

The words and the tone of the conversation were classic. We’ve heard such sibling dialog a thousand times and probably spoke one or both sides of the conversation when we were children. It’s what children do. Continue reading →

Becky and I watched the George Clooney-produced movie, “The Boys in the Boat,” this past weekend. We thought it was a good film, and apparently the book by the same title is even better.

“The Boys in the Boat” tells the story of the 1936 University of Washington eight-oared rowing crew that represented the United States at the Berlin Olympics and ended up winning the gold medal, defeating, among others, Hitler’s German crew. It is a feel-good story that is true. No plot spoilers because everything that happens is predictable. The good guys win.

The boys in the boat are good guys not just because they are American. They are good guys by virtue of, well, virtue.  The eight rowers and their coxswain are all from Washington state, the sons of farmers, and fishers, and lumberjacks. Their hard work and loyalty to the team, their perseverance and indomitable spirit was not instilled by coaches or university professors. It is who they are and how they were raised. Mothers and fathers and small towns are to be thanked for who they are. On their way tp Olympic gold, the boys in the boat defeat the teams of rich boys from the Ivy League and German and Italian rowers drafted into the service of oppressive regimes. Virtue defeats money and power. Continue reading →